US3905208A - Flexible shaft coupling - Google Patents

Flexible shaft coupling Download PDF

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Publication number
US3905208A
US3905208A US440904A US44090474A US3905208A US 3905208 A US3905208 A US 3905208A US 440904 A US440904 A US 440904A US 44090474 A US44090474 A US 44090474A US 3905208 A US3905208 A US 3905208A
Authority
US
United States
Prior art keywords
shaft
mounting piece
coupling
elastomeric body
cylindrical
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
US440904A
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English (en)
Inventor
Hiroichi Oyama
Yoshinori Matsuki
Fujio Ohkawa
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Bridgestone Corp
Original Assignee
Bridgestone Corp
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Bridgestone Corp filed Critical Bridgestone Corp
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of US3905208A publication Critical patent/US3905208A/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F16—ENGINEERING ELEMENTS AND UNITS; GENERAL MEASURES FOR PRODUCING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING OF MACHINES OR INSTALLATIONS; THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL
    • F16D—COUPLINGS FOR TRANSMITTING ROTATION; CLUTCHES; BRAKES
    • F16D3/00—Yielding couplings, i.e. with means permitting movement between the connected parts during the drive
    • F16D3/50—Yielding couplings, i.e. with means permitting movement between the connected parts during the drive with the coupling parts connected by one or more intermediate members
    • F16D3/72—Yielding couplings, i.e. with means permitting movement between the connected parts during the drive with the coupling parts connected by one or more intermediate members with axially-spaced attachments to the coupling parts
    • F16D3/74—Yielding couplings, i.e. with means permitting movement between the connected parts during the drive with the coupling parts connected by one or more intermediate members with axially-spaced attachments to the coupling parts the intermediate member or members being made of rubber or other rubber-like flexible material
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
    • Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
    • Y10T403/00—Joints and connections
    • Y10T403/70—Interfitted members
    • Y10T403/7075—Interfitted members including discrete retainer
    • Y10T403/7077—Interfitted members including discrete retainer for telescoping members
    • Y10T403/7079—Transverse pin

Definitions

  • ABSTRACT A flexible shaft coupling comprising a cylindrical elastomeric body having a reinforcement embedded therein, a mounting piece adapted to be fixed to a driving shaft and having a shaft fitted within one end of the elastomeric body, a cylindrical member tightly fitted on that portion of the end of the elastomeric body which accommodates the shaft of the mounting piece to deform that portion radially inwardly thereby clamping together the shaft and the elastomeric body, and coupling members consisting of a protrusion formed on the shaft of the mounting piece or on the cylindrical member and a notch formed in the cylindrical member or in an annular member fixed t0 the shaft of the mounting piece to form clearances between the protrusion and side walls of the notch, thereby providing a coupling characteristics in which a torque does not increase so much at the commencement of rotation of the
  • the present invention relates to a flexible shaft coupling which is particularly suitable for use in a handle shaft for automobiles.
  • a flexible coupling consists of a cylindrical elastomeric body reinforced by steel wires embedded therein and provided at its ends with mounting pieces, as disclosed in Japenese Pat. application Publication No. 14,805/69.
  • the coupling exhibits a torque-rotating angle characteristics in which as soon as the mounting piece of the elastomeric body on a driving shaft starts to rotate, a torque increases immediately to a value near the maximum torque to be transmitted.
  • the flexible coupling comprises a cylindrical elastomeric body having a reinforcement embedded therein, a mounting piece adapted to be fixed to a rotary shaft and having a cylindrical shaft fitted within one end of said elastomeric body, a cylindrical member tightly fitted on that portion of said end of the elastomeric body which receives said cylindrical shaft to deform that portion radially inwardly thereby clamping together said shaft and said elastomeric body, and coupling means between said mounting piece and said cylindrical member for providing a positive engagement therebetween after an elapse of disengaging period of time when one of said mounting piece and cylindrical member starts to rotate in one of normal and reverse directions.
  • a primary object of the invention is, therefore, to provide an improved flexible shaft coupling having a characteristics in that a torque does not increase so much at the beginning of the rotation but increases rapidly as a mounting piece rotates further to the maxi mum torque to be transmitted.
  • a further object of the invention is to provide an improved flexible shaft coupling which is simple in construction and easy to manufacture and has a vibration proof performance.
  • FIG. 1 is a graph illustrating torque-rotating angle characteristic curves of prior art flexible couplings and the coupling according to the invention
  • FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of a preferred embodiment of the coupling according to the invention.
  • FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line IlIIll in FIG. 2;
  • FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of another embodiment of the coupling according to the invention.
  • FIG. 5 is a plan view of the coupling shown in FIG. 4.
  • FIG. 1 showing torque-rotating angle characteristic curves of flexible coupling
  • conventional flexible couplings exhibit characteristic curves A A and A which may vary in absolute value depending upon an arrangement of its reinforcement embedded in elastomeric bodies. These curves clearly indicate that a torque increases rapidly as soon as a driving shaft starts to rotate and then increases progressively to a maximum torque to be transmitted. As above described this characteristics is not desirable for installing the coupling in a handle shaft for automobiles.
  • a characteristic curve B in FIG. 1 illustrates the characteristics of the flexible coupling according to the invention in which a torque does not increase so much during an initial short period of time but increases remarkably after the elapse of the initial period of time. This characteristics is ideal for using the coupling in a handle shaft for automobiles and is accomplished by the following preferred embodiments of the invention.
  • a flexible shaft coupling which comprises a hollow or solid elastomeric body 1 made of such as rubber in which are embedded steel wires 2 as a reinforcement.
  • the elastomeric body 1 consists of an outer layer 1a and an inner layer lb of a relatively soft material to form a hollow cylindrical shape and is provided with an elastomeric member 3 which is inserted as a reinforcement into the hollow cylinder at the midway of the body 1 for preventing it from being bent when it is subjected to a large torsional force.
  • the piece 4 which is to be fixed to a rotary driving shaft (not shown).
  • the piece 4 consists of a mounting flange 4a and a cylindrical shaft 4b which is inserted into the end of theibody 1.
  • a cylindrical member 5 is tightly fitted on tliat portion of the body 1 which accommodates the Sijl'dft 4b to deform the portion radially inwardly thereby ⁇ clamping together the shaft 4b and the body 1.
  • a cylindrical end 5a of the member 5 extends to encircle ⁇ the shaft 417 and is formed with a notch 6 having a 'lpth in the circumferential direction, the meaning of which will be later explained.
  • the shaft 4b of the mounting; piece 4 is provided with a protrusion 7 which in asl'aembled position is within the notch 6 of the member 5 to form desired amounts of clearances S between t ie protrusion 7 and the side walls of the notch 6.
  • a llanged mounting piece 8 To the other end of the elastomeric body I is tightly fitted a llanged mounting piece 8 by radially deforming the forr. er, which is to be fixed to a separate rotary driving or d 'iven shaft (not shown).
  • the coupling shqvn in FIGS. 2 and 3 operates as follows.
  • the shaft 41; formed integrally with the mounting piece 4 rotates slightly equivalent to the clearance S between the protrusion 7 and one of the walls of the notch 6 while the inner wall of the body 1 is deformed due to a torsional or shearing stress caused by the rotational movement of the shaft 412.
  • the elastomeric body 1 is being subjected to a driving force with a slight reaction which may be particularly small owing to the inner layer lb of the body 1 made of the relatively soft material as in the embodiment.
  • the shaft 4b rotates further until the protrusion 7 abuts against one of the walls of the notch 6, so that the whole elastomeric body 1, probably mainly its reinforced outer layer 2, is subjected to the driving force which is transmitted through the mounting piece 8 to the driven shaft (not shown).
  • the torque-rotating angle characteristic curve B is obtained as shown in FIG. 1. It should be understood that the characteristic curve can be obtained even if the mounting of the driving and driven shafts is reversed in the above embodiment.
  • the protrusion 7 of the mounting piece 4 and the notch 6 of the cylindrical member form specific coupling means in which when the piece 4 or the member 5 first starts to rotate in normal or reverse direction, they are positively engaged with each other after the elapse of the disengaging period of time.
  • the coupling means is provided only on the end of the elastomeric body 1, it is to be understood that the coupling means can be provided on both ends of the body 1 for the purpose of increasing the angle for transmitting the torque through the shearing deformation of the inner layer of the body 1.
  • a cylindrical member 5 is formed at its end with a protrusion 7 and an annular member 9 is fixed to a shaft 4! as by welding and is formed with a notch 6 corresponding to the protrusion 7 to form clearances between the protrusion and the walls of the notch 6.
  • the elastomeric body 1 consists of a single layer so that the inner wall portion of the layer is deformed due to the torsional stress caused by the rotational movement of the shaft 4 for the disengaging period of time.
  • the flexible coupling according to the invention exhibits the characteristic curve B as shown in FIG. 1 wherein the transmitting torque is slight while the rotating angle is small and the torque increases rapidly as the rotating angle increases. so that during the relatively small rotating angle the torque can be effectively transmitted substantially without any back-lash between the rotating parts.
  • the flexible coupling according to the invention is so simple in construction that in conjunction with the characteristics a good connection between two shafts can be accomplished with a vibration proof performance.
  • a flexible shaft coupling comprising: a) a cylindrical elastomeric body having an outer layer with a reinforcement embedded therein and an inner layer of softer elastomeric material than said outer layer; b) a mounting piece adapted to be fixed to a driving shaft, said mounting piece having a cylindrical shaft extending from one side and fitted within a first end of said elastomeric body; c) a cylindrical member tightly fitted about said first end of the elastomeric body so as to deform said first end radially inwardly, thereby clamping together said cylindrical shaft and said elastomeric body; and d) coupling means between said mounting piece and said cylindrical member such that only said inner layer transmits torque to a driven shaft upon initial rotation of said mounting piece, and after a predetermined angle of rotation of said mounting piece both said inner and said outer layers transmit torque to a driven shaft.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Flexible Shafts (AREA)
  • Shafts, Cranks, Connecting Bars, And Related Bearings (AREA)
US440904A 1973-02-09 1974-02-08 Flexible shaft coupling Expired - Lifetime US3905208A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
JP48016200A JPS5246582B2 (enrdf_load_stackoverflow) 1973-02-09 1973-02-09

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US3905208A true US3905208A (en) 1975-09-16

Family

ID=11909854

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US440904A Expired - Lifetime US3905208A (en) 1973-02-09 1974-02-08 Flexible shaft coupling

Country Status (2)

Country Link
US (1) US3905208A (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)
JP (1) JPS5246582B2 (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)

Cited By (17)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4082217A (en) * 1973-08-27 1978-04-04 Separex Sa Centrifuge apparatus
US4171920A (en) * 1977-11-10 1979-10-23 The B. F. Goodrich Company Torsion spring means
US4211365A (en) * 1977-03-18 1980-07-08 Webasto Werk W. Baier Gmbh & Co. Motor vehicle auxiliary heater
US4236387A (en) * 1978-01-30 1980-12-02 Suehiro Takatsu Energy storing device
EP0059163A1 (de) * 1981-02-18 1982-09-01 Ciba-Geigy Ag Verbindung einer Kunststoff-Torsionswelle mit einem Metallelement und Verfahren zur Herstellung der Verbindung
US4406640A (en) * 1980-12-22 1983-09-27 General Motors Corporation Drive axle assembly having limited torsional damper
US4411634A (en) * 1980-11-10 1983-10-25 The Bendix Corporation Flexible coupling having molded plastic flexible diaphragms
US4521003A (en) * 1981-09-15 1985-06-04 Odobasic Steven Lazar Torsion link
US4593889A (en) * 1983-03-18 1986-06-10 Odobasic Steven Lazar Laminated tubular link
EP0205803A1 (de) * 1985-05-22 1986-12-30 Robert Bosch Gmbh Vorrichtung zum Anbringen eines Schraubverschlusses an einem Behälter
US4659069A (en) * 1984-09-26 1987-04-21 Odobasic Steven Lazar Laminated mechanical elements
US4767010A (en) * 1986-10-02 1988-08-30 Bost John R Bearing sorting device
US6035515A (en) * 1998-10-16 2000-03-14 Shopvac Corporation Motor shaft assembly and method
US6091176A (en) * 1997-09-24 2000-07-18 Shop Vac Corporation Motor shaft assembly
WO2006031160A1 (en) * 2004-09-16 2006-03-23 Tetra Laval Holdings & Finance S.A. A method, an apparatus and an arrangement in screw capsulating
US20130300043A1 (en) * 2010-11-29 2013-11-14 Todd Michael Whitaker Tubular torsion bar
US20140053764A1 (en) * 2012-08-21 2014-02-27 Chia-Wen Ruan Steering device for a surfboard

Citations (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2174010A (en) * 1938-02-19 1939-09-26 Torrington Mfg Co Coupling device
US2667768A (en) * 1951-11-27 1954-02-02 Stewart Warner Corp Torque transmitting coupling
US2824434A (en) * 1955-05-11 1958-02-25 Arnold S Stern Flexible shaft coupling
US3283538A (en) * 1965-01-25 1966-11-08 Kollsman Instr Corp Shock absorbing coupling
US3779038A (en) * 1972-04-19 1973-12-18 Gates Rubber Co Centering device for flexible shaft couplings
US3797619A (en) * 1972-10-02 1974-03-19 Komatsu Mfg Co Ltd Operational control system for vehicle steering clutches and brakes
US3821882A (en) * 1972-03-17 1974-07-02 Bosch Gmbh Robert Elastic rotary coupling, particularly for the driving of rpm regulators associated with fuel injection pumps

Patent Citations (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2174010A (en) * 1938-02-19 1939-09-26 Torrington Mfg Co Coupling device
US2667768A (en) * 1951-11-27 1954-02-02 Stewart Warner Corp Torque transmitting coupling
US2824434A (en) * 1955-05-11 1958-02-25 Arnold S Stern Flexible shaft coupling
US3283538A (en) * 1965-01-25 1966-11-08 Kollsman Instr Corp Shock absorbing coupling
US3821882A (en) * 1972-03-17 1974-07-02 Bosch Gmbh Robert Elastic rotary coupling, particularly for the driving of rpm regulators associated with fuel injection pumps
US3779038A (en) * 1972-04-19 1973-12-18 Gates Rubber Co Centering device for flexible shaft couplings
US3797619A (en) * 1972-10-02 1974-03-19 Komatsu Mfg Co Ltd Operational control system for vehicle steering clutches and brakes

Cited By (21)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4082217A (en) * 1973-08-27 1978-04-04 Separex Sa Centrifuge apparatus
US4211365A (en) * 1977-03-18 1980-07-08 Webasto Werk W. Baier Gmbh & Co. Motor vehicle auxiliary heater
US4171920A (en) * 1977-11-10 1979-10-23 The B. F. Goodrich Company Torsion spring means
US4236387A (en) * 1978-01-30 1980-12-02 Suehiro Takatsu Energy storing device
US4411634A (en) * 1980-11-10 1983-10-25 The Bendix Corporation Flexible coupling having molded plastic flexible diaphragms
US4406640A (en) * 1980-12-22 1983-09-27 General Motors Corporation Drive axle assembly having limited torsional damper
EP0059163A1 (de) * 1981-02-18 1982-09-01 Ciba-Geigy Ag Verbindung einer Kunststoff-Torsionswelle mit einem Metallelement und Verfahren zur Herstellung der Verbindung
US4715739A (en) * 1981-02-18 1987-12-29 Ciba-Geigy Corporation Connection between a plastics quill shaft and a metal element
US4521003A (en) * 1981-09-15 1985-06-04 Odobasic Steven Lazar Torsion link
US4593889A (en) * 1983-03-18 1986-06-10 Odobasic Steven Lazar Laminated tubular link
US4659069A (en) * 1984-09-26 1987-04-21 Odobasic Steven Lazar Laminated mechanical elements
EP0205803A1 (de) * 1985-05-22 1986-12-30 Robert Bosch Gmbh Vorrichtung zum Anbringen eines Schraubverschlusses an einem Behälter
US4767010A (en) * 1986-10-02 1988-08-30 Bost John R Bearing sorting device
US6091176A (en) * 1997-09-24 2000-07-18 Shop Vac Corporation Motor shaft assembly
US6035515A (en) * 1998-10-16 2000-03-14 Shopvac Corporation Motor shaft assembly and method
US20030188414A1 (en) * 1998-10-16 2003-10-09 Mark E. Baer Motor shaft assembly and method
US7241117B2 (en) 1998-10-16 2007-07-10 Shop Vac Corporation Motor shaft assembly and method
WO2006031160A1 (en) * 2004-09-16 2006-03-23 Tetra Laval Holdings & Finance S.A. A method, an apparatus and an arrangement in screw capsulating
US20130300043A1 (en) * 2010-11-29 2013-11-14 Todd Michael Whitaker Tubular torsion bar
US9228626B2 (en) * 2010-11-29 2016-01-05 Todd Michael Whitaker Tubular torsion bar
US20140053764A1 (en) * 2012-08-21 2014-02-27 Chia-Wen Ruan Steering device for a surfboard

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
JPS5246582B2 (enrdf_load_stackoverflow) 1977-11-25
JPS49103041A (enrdf_load_stackoverflow) 1974-09-28

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